Impact
Bold experiments.
Lasting results.
DC Ed Fund backs cutting-edge initiatives with the potential to generate systemic change. Our investments have transformed DCPS into the fastest-improving urban school district in the last decade.
Our founding
The DC Public Education Fund was founded in 2007 to help DC Public Schools address its most pressing challenges through organized philanthropy.
Pursuing excellence
Our first investment fund raised $65M to support IMPACTplus, the nation’s first performance and compensation system to attract, evaluate, and incentivize the highest performing educators.
Student experience
We expanded our efforts to address what students were learning in their classrooms. The Cornerstones initiative introduced the city’s first curriculum strategy stacked with powerful lessons and experiences, all in pursuit of closing the opportunity gap.
Expanding our vision
Since the beginning, we have raised over $200M in seed capital to launch a series of new start-up initiatives that continue to raise the bar for what’s possible in public education.
Proof of concept
Today, DCPS still holds the title of being the nation’s fastest-improving urban school district, much of it accelerated by DC Ed Fund-supported investments.
Targeted investments to achieve DCPS’ most ambitious goals.
Standing Ovation
Standing Ovation was designed as a way to honor the achievements of DCPS’ top teachers, leaders, and school communities. For more than ten years, this unique DC tradition has played a critical role in elevating the teaching profession and celebrating what’s working in urban education.
DCPS Becoming
As a nation and as an urban public school system, we are emerging from an unprecedented year having fought through unprecedented experiences. DC Public Schools (DCPS) learned so much as a school community on how to reinvent teaching and learning regardless of conditions. We also witnessed the structural racism in America and the lopsided outcomes that stem from racial inequities. DCPS is at an inflection point, a moment in its history, where returning to a pre-pandemic posture is not an option. Instead, DCPS is shattering the status quo by acknowledging the journey it must take and the work that has to be done in order to be better, stronger, all in pursuit of becoming an antiracist and whole child centered organization. To learn more about the new DCPS Becoming $20M fund, contact us.
DCPS Persists
DCPS Persists is the first college completion initiative ever led by a traditional public school district in the country. For the first time, DCPS is providing college-bound students with a support network to help them succeed and complete college.
Check it outRaised to support DCPS Persists
DCPS alums receiving coaching and supports including workshops, career readiness opportunities, and community building in pursuit of their post-secondary degree.
Microgrants awarded to assist over 1,000 first-year students overcome unexpected financial barriers to persistence and completion.
Bard High School Early College DC (Bard DC)
Bard DC is a four-year public high school that offers students the opportunity to earn a high school diploma, up to 60 transferable college credits, and an associate in arts degree from Bard College. As the first stand alone early college high school East of the River, Bard DC is moving the finish line for students motivated by getting an early start to college.
Check it outEnrollment increase since SY 2019
Bard DC on-time cohort graduation rate in 2021 and 2022.
Bard students who have earned associates degree by high school graduation in class of 2022, saving an average of $92k/student in college credit costs.
High School Redesign (Anacostia and Ballou High School)
In 2019, DCPS launched a High School redesign initiative, the district’s first community-driven transformation strategy beginning with Anacostia HS and Ballou HS. Grounded on human centered practices, redesign teams lead schools through a year long incubation journey that transform schools with and for them versus aiming solutions “at” them.
Check it outDollars in redesign investments
Stakeholders involved in the redesign process, including students, parents, staff, and community partners
Increase in 9th grade enrollment at Ballou and Anacostia following the redesign efforts